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HIGH SCHOOL BOYS BASKETBALL

Cardinal Gibbons, Berkeley Prep will play for Kingdom title

Cardinal Gibbons' Greg Kacprzak drives for the basket as Deltona faces Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons in the semifinals of the 40th Kingdom of the Sun tournament at Vanguard High School in Ocala on Sunday, December 29, 2013.

Alan Youngblood/Ocala Star-Banner

By Richard BurtonCorrespondent

Published: Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 10:19 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 10:35 p.m.

Seldom does a team go the final 6 minutes, 47 seconds of action in a close basketball game and score two points and still win, but when your defense is as strong as Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, who needs offense?

The Chiefs did just enough on offense and continued their string of solid defensive performances with a 44-40 win over Deltona in the semifinals of the 40th Kingdom of the Sun boys basketball tournament Sunday night at Vanguard High School.

With the win, Cardinal Gibbons (13-2) advances to the championship game on Monday night at 7:30 against Tampa Berkeley Prep, which beat Cincinnati LaSalle in the other semifinal.

Deltona, meanwhile, saw its nine-game winning streak snapped and it falls into the third-place game at 6 p.m. against LaSalle.

Melvin Brooks clinched things for Cardinal Gibbons with a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left after the Wolves had a pair of chances to make things interesting.

The Chiefs left the door wide open for Deltona, as they missed their first six free throws of the fourth quarter and saw an 11-point edge in the fourth quarter nearly evaporate.

Deltona (12-4) got as close as 42-40 with 31.3 seconds on a driving layup by Torrey Mayo.

From there, Cardinal Gibbons turned the ball over in the backcourt with 27 seconds on the clock.

Mayo had a chance to tie the game, as he got into the lane and put up a floater, which bounced off with 15.8 seconds remaining.

Richard McIntosh grabbed the miss by Mayo and was fouled, but kept things open for the Wolves as he missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Wolves got the miss and pushed the ball into the frontcort and went for the win, but the Chiefs did a nice job of closing out on a 3-pointer by Evan Hinson that bounced off the backboard and out-of-bounds to Cardinal Gibbons with 2.9 seconds remaining.

Brooks (10 points, seven rebounds) then clinched things for the Chiefs, who led by 16 points with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

Stefan Duvivier and Greg Kacprzak also scored 10 points for Cardinal Gibbons, which led by 13 after a quarter of play and by 10 at halftime.

Jerome Monroe led Deltona with 13 points.

Monroe added five rebounds and two blocks, while Mayo scored eight. Chad Brown, a UCF commit, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots for the Wolves.

Cardinal Gibbons, though, held Deltona to 16-of-40 shooting and held a 29-24 rebounding edge.

In three tournament games, the Chiefs have allowed their opponents to make just 47-of-133 shots and allowed 126 points.

Paced by Brooks and McIntosh (seven rebounds), Cardinal Gibbons has outrebounded its three opponents by 25.

After the Chiefs made 7-of-12 shots during the third quarter, they missed their final six shots and didn't convert a field goal after a layup by McIntosh at the 6:47 mark of the fourth.

<p>Seldom does a team go the final 6 minutes, 47 seconds of action in a close basketball game and score two points and still win, but when your defense is as strong as Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons, who needs offense?</p><p>The Chiefs did just enough on offense and continued their string of solid defensive performances with a 44-40 win over Deltona in the semifinals of the 40th Kingdom of the Sun boys basketball tournament Sunday night at Vanguard High School.</p><p>With the win, Cardinal Gibbons (13-2) advances to the championship game on Monday night at 7:30 against Tampa Berkeley Prep, which beat Cincinnati LaSalle in the other semifinal.</p><p>Deltona, meanwhile, saw its nine-game winning streak snapped and it falls into the third-place game at 6 p.m. against LaSalle.</p><p>Melvin Brooks clinched things for Cardinal Gibbons with a pair of free throws with 1.9 seconds left after the Wolves had a pair of chances to make things interesting.</p><p>The Chiefs left the door wide open for Deltona, as they missed their first six free throws of the fourth quarter and saw an 11-point edge in the fourth quarter nearly evaporate.</p><p>Deltona (12-4) got as close as 42-40 with 31.3 seconds on a driving layup by Torrey Mayo.</p><p>From there, Cardinal Gibbons turned the ball over in the backcourt with 27 seconds on the clock.</p><p>Mayo had a chance to tie the game, as he got into the lane and put up a floater, which bounced off with 15.8 seconds remaining.</p><p>Richard McIntosh grabbed the miss by Mayo and was fouled, but kept things open for the Wolves as he missed the front end of a one-and-one.</p><p>The Wolves got the miss and pushed the ball into the frontcort and went for the win, but the Chiefs did a nice job of closing out on a 3-pointer by Evan Hinson that bounced off the backboard and out-of-bounds to Cardinal Gibbons with 2.9 seconds remaining.</p><p>Brooks (10 points, seven rebounds) then clinched things for the Chiefs, who led by 16 points with 4:30 left in the third quarter.</p><p>Stefan Duvivier and Greg Kacprzak also scored 10 points for Cardinal Gibbons, which led by 13 after a quarter of play and by 10 at halftime.</p><p>Jerome Monroe led Deltona with 13 points.</p><p>Monroe added five rebounds and two blocks, while Mayo scored eight. Chad Brown, a UCF commit, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots for the Wolves.</p><p>Cardinal Gibbons, though, held Deltona to 16-of-40 shooting and held a 29-24 rebounding edge.</p><p>In three tournament games, the Chiefs have allowed their opponents to make just 47-of-133 shots and allowed 126 points.</p><p>Paced by Brooks and McIntosh (seven rebounds), Cardinal Gibbons has outrebounded its three opponents by 25.</p><p>After the Chiefs made 7-of-12 shots during the third quarter, they missed their final six shots and didn't convert a field goal after a layup by McIntosh at the 6:47 mark of the fourth.</p><p><b>TAMPA BERKELEY PREP 39, CINCINNATI LASALLE 37:</b> N'Namdi Green's blocked with 2.7 seconds left helped the Bucs (12-0) hold off the Lancers (6-1) in the tournament semifinals.</p><p>After Jeremy Larkin missed from inside the right elbow, but Tim Bell grabbed the rebound in the paint.</p><p>Green, though, got a piece of the shot and grabbed the rebound.</p><p>From there, he missed a pair of free throws, which gave the Lancers one last shot.</p><p>Larkin got the ball just past halfcourt, but his 3-pointer was short as time expired.</p><p>Berkeley Prep, the top ranked team in Class 4A, held the Lancers to 2-of-23 shooting in the second half and scoreless during the third quarter.</p><p>The Bucs didn't allow a point for a span of 11:09, which encompassed time from late in the second quarter until early in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Justin Gray, a Texas Tech signee, was big for the Bucs, as he finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.</p><p>Green added seven rebounds and two blocks for Berkeley Prep, who survived three turnovers and three missed foul shots over the final 1:51.</p><p>The Bucs rallied from a 10-point first half deficit and a five-point halftime hole to rally past the Lancers.</p><p>Berkeley Prep only scored six points in the third, but did just enough to get past LaSalle.</p><p>Gray's basket with 5:31 snapped a 29-all tie and started a 5-0 spurt that gave Berkeley Prep just enough room.</p><p>Larkin led LaSalle with 10 points.</p><p>With the win, Berkeley Prep advances to the tournament finals for the first time since 2007. The Bucs lost that season on a buzzer-beater by Trae Golden against McEachern (Ga.).</p><p>It will also give head coach Bobby Reinhart the chance to accomplish a tournament title as a coach and a player.</p><p>In 1982, playing for his father's Decatur (Ga.) High team, Reinhart helped the Dogs get past Vanguard in the Kingdom finals</p><p>The Lancers, meanwhile, lost in the tournament semifinals for the second straight year.</p>